Literary Studies and Creative Writing

Literary studies as a discipline brings together undergraduates, postgraduates and staff from across the Faculty of Arts interested in literature, books, how literary texts are created and how they are read.

Teaching Program

Literary studies enables students to choose subjects from the following areas of staff expertise:

Literatures in English

The Literatures in English pathway engages with literatures from within Australia and around the world. Its approach to Australian literature places it in relation to both its European and Indigenous roots and its increasingly wide international context. Other world literatures are researched and taught in relation to their national and transnational contexts and with attention to the many theoretical ideas about literary criticism that have developed over the last hundred years.

Creative Writing

Creative writing allows students to apply their knowledge of the history and theory of literature to the task of creative practice, in the areas of fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction. Students are encouraged to experiment with a range of stylistic approaches in the collaborative environment of workshops, developing technical skills in both writing and editing, while reflecting creatively and analytically on their own practice.

International Literatures

Focusing on literary texts from around the world, International Literatures takes a distinctive comparative approach to literature. Using translated texts (and, where students have the language skills, the original language), International Literatures enables students to read and understand cross-culturally, to recognise the important literary dialogues that have shaped our understanding of literature today, and to explore the interaction of cultures more broadly.

Courses

Our teaching approach creates pathways for students to progress from an undergraduate interest in Literary and Creative Writing studies, to pursuing the discipline through Honours, and then graduate research.

Research

Literary studies staff and postgraduates are engaged in a wide range of research, covering key areas in the field, including: Renaissance studies, Eighteenth Century literature, Romanticism, Victorian literature, Children’s literature, American literature, Modernist studies, Postcolonial studies, Modern and Contemporary Poetry, and Literary Theory. We also specialise in Creative Writing projects in the areas of fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction.

Staff

Our Literary and Creative Writing studies staff possess outstanding national and international profiles. View all staff.